Lupe Fiasco recently spoke to a group of black high school graduates at the Mass Black Male Graduation and Transition to Manhood ceremony in Chicago.

And he didn’t wasted their time with a flowery speech.

Instead, he called the Chicago Public School systems one of the worst in the world; and implored the young men to focus less on the achievement of graduating, and more on their futures and transition into manhood.

He said: “Transition to manhood is the most important thing that’s going on right now. The caps and the gowns and your tassels and your honorary blah blah blahs don’t mean nothing. That’s just dress. That’s just some clothes. Meaningless clothes, too, because they have no real purpose in life. They don’t keep you warm. What do they do? They just represent to someone else that you’ve achieved something. But then when you look back at it, what have you achieved?”

Instead, the rapper, who said he was a product of local schools, told the young men they had to earn and maintain their manhood because, “for young black men . . . it is one the last things that we have . . . and one of the last things that we can control. Manhood is connected to humanity.”

The Black Youth Project is a platform that highlights the voices and ideas of Black millennials. Through knowledge, voice, and action, we work to empower and uplift the lived experiences of young Black Americans today.

About The Black Youth Project

The Black Youth Project examines the attitudes, resources and culture of the young black millennials.

We have three core areas of focus: knowledge, voice, and action. Knowledge is the research we perform on Black millennials ages 18-35. Voice is the high-quality news and opinions written by Black millennials on this platform. Action is the work done through our sister organization BYP100.